MLB Reporter Jon Morosi joins Costa & Jansen To Discuss Tigers-Guardians in ALDS

WXYT-FM / 97.1 The Ticket

Jon Morosi of MLB Network joins Jim and Jon to discuss Game 2 of the ALDS between the Tigers and Guardians.

Transcript

00:00John Marossi, MLB Network, joins us this morning. John, good morning.

00:05Jim and John, happy postseason, my friends. Great to be with you today.

00:10Yeah, happy postseason. It's a new experience for us, I mean new within the last decade,

00:16and there's a lot of people that are really worried about what they saw on Saturday.

00:21How much angst should Tigers fans have right now?

00:26Well, John, my overall perspective and advice is that we as people in Michigan should enjoy this,

00:32because we were not expecting to have playoff baseball.

00:36This is not the team of Verlander and Scherzer and David Price and everybody else

00:45that was supposed to win it all with Miguel years ago.

00:48This is bonus baseball. Now, you've gotten this far, you've beaten the Astros,

00:54so I understand that there's now a little bit of expectation.

00:58You've also got the best pitcher in the world on the mound.

01:01So if you're going to make a run at this thing and find a way to beat Cleveland,

01:08this is obviously a huge game to win, because when Scoogle's on the mound,

01:12it needs to be win day for obvious reasons.

01:15But I think my big picture takeaway is you're going to see a Game 3 at Comerica Park,

01:21postseason game with Detroit in 10 years, and you've got a shot today

01:25because you've got the best pitcher in the world on the mound.

01:28So that's my current vibe. I know I'm a bit removed because I'm in New York

01:32covering the other series, but that's kind of my look at it as I'm keeping an eye on it from afar.

01:38Yeah, but you're a Michigander, and you know kind of the pulse of how this team

01:41has rallied and kind of the mood of the city.

01:44We've been taking inventory on how people feel as well today.

01:47Show of hands in the studio. Must win? Hand up if it's a must win today.

01:51Everybody's got their hand up. John, you agree?

01:54Yeah, I do. And certainly when you consider the big picture here

01:59and why this whole strategy has worked, if you go back to August and after the trade deadline

02:06and the way the Tigers were able to make this run, starting when they had

02:10basically two starting pitchers at the time, Scoogle and Monteiro,

02:14the reason why the chaos strategy worked, and I do think you've got to credit

02:21A.J. Hinch for the strategy and Chris Fetter and Robin Lund, they all did a great job

02:26of devising it, and certainly the relievers and the bolt guys that made it work.

02:31The only reason why the chaos worked is because of Scoogle.

02:36Scoogle is the man who made the chaos possible because you can't do openers

02:42and bolt guys and chaos every day. You need to have a day of consistency

02:48and certainty, and the day of certainty is called Scoogle Day, and that is today.

02:54So I think for that reason, the only way the overall pitching plan works

03:00is if Tarek wins the game today, and certainly there is a scenario

03:06in which he's able to pitch again in this series. You could start game five

03:10on regular rest, but the only way that the math works is if Scoogle wins.

03:16So I agree. Today is certainly a must-day.

03:20From afar, now I know that you're well-connected to Detroit, but in the baseball world,

03:26with where the Tigers are, okay, Scoogle, we know going to the mound

03:30that you're going to get a good performance, and we have that confidence.

03:34At the plate, how much confidence do you have that the Tiger bats

03:38can even give him one, two, or whatever it is in terms of run support?

03:44Well, I certainly think it's similar to what you saw against the left-hander

03:50they faced in Fran Brevaldez in the Houston series. That was a low-scoring game,

03:54and it worked out because obviously the bullpen held late,

03:58and that was, I think, a very key way, a bit of a template of how they're going to

04:04approach this game today, and I guess if you're looking at the bright side,

04:08there's no potential pitcher in this entire postseason

04:12unless they face the Dodgers in the World Series and face Flaherty.

04:16There's nobody that they know better than Matthew Boyd, nobody,

04:20in terms of having a good book of how to approach him,

04:24and Matthew's done a fantastic job coming back to Cleveland.

04:28He's been one of their better starting pitchers since he's joined them,

04:31and I'm just personally thrilled for him because he's such a great gentleman,

04:34and he did so much for Detroit, and he's a great citizen of the world as far as I'm concerned.

04:39So he's an easy guy to root for, but as AJ Hinch said yesterday,

04:43he sort of set that aside for a few hours and compete like heck

04:47when he's on the mound against you, but they're going to know what to do here,

04:52and I also think that the biggest hit of this postseason so far

04:58was for Abanez against a lefty, and so against a lefty,

05:02you get Abanez in the lineup.

05:04Vierling certainly is someone who's become a really important guy.

05:08He's obviously better against lefties than he is against righties,

05:10so I think in some ways facing a lefty here in this situation

05:14is to the Tigers' advantage because I tend to like their lineup against lefties,

05:19and they've already won a game that way this postseason.

05:22So I think for all those reasons, John, I think there's a lot of belief

05:26that certainly this game will go better than the game the other day,

05:31and I guess the final point I'll make on the way the game one went

05:34is it's almost easier to take that loss when it's over in the first inning,

05:38really, than the big poppy home run 11 years ago.

05:43That's a game the Tiger fans are still upset about.

05:46John, why are you bringing that up?

05:48Right. Well, it's the truth.

05:50The game on Saturday, it's amazing how, as a quick parenthetical,

05:54the day that Leland got inducted and his induction was announced,

05:59somebody asked him about a game that he went back and wanted to think about,

06:03and he mentioned that game, so it's still on his mind.

06:05And the point is that Saturday's game was utterly forgettable.

06:09It was over early, and I think it allowed them to utilize the rest of their pitching

06:14in a way that preserved their chance to chase this game.

06:17He's John Marossi, MLB Network. He joins us this morning.

06:21Yeah, you know, I think the key, you've got to get to Boyd

06:24because you don't want to get to that Cleveland bullpen, right?

06:26I mean, so much of this, hey, they worked Valdez out of the game against Houston,

06:30and I think you don't want to work Boyd out of the game.

06:32You've got to do damage while he's in the game.

06:34For as much as he's given to Detroit, maybe you could give him a little more today.

06:37That'd be great.

06:38Well, Jim, that is an excellent point just about the difference.

06:42I do think the Guardians have arguably the best bullpen in baseball this season,

06:48and certainly the most dominant reliever, I would say,

06:51in the entire sport right now in class A.

06:53So when he's entering the game, it almost feels a little bit like Rivera from years ago

07:00where it's just the game's over effectively.

07:04I think you're right that you're going to have to probably do your damage early in the game,

07:08and I do think overall with the Tigers, their bullpen,

07:13they had to get a little creative at different times.

07:15Even in the second game against Houston, obviously it got away from them for a little bit,

07:20but I think by the way that the first game unfolded,

07:24you've got all your best guys there and available to you.

07:27Nobody's really taxed right now.

07:29They're all in a good spot.

07:31I do think it's interesting with the Guardians,

07:34there was always a conversation of Russ versus Russ and what that means

07:38and how it could advantage the team that advances through the wildcard round.

07:43I do think in this case, Jim and John,

07:45that the Guardians were so dependent on their bullpen during the course of the whole season,

07:50and Steven Vogt went to them so often that they were maybe the rare team

07:55that really benefited from having all that time off

07:58because those bullpen guys really did a lot.

08:00I think we even saw on Saturday just how good or how deep that bullpen is.

08:04How is Detroit viewed?

08:09What's the perception of what they've been able to do in the last two months of the season,

08:15winning the wildcard round?

08:17What's that perception around Major League Baseball right now?

08:20It's interesting for me.

08:22Obviously, still living in Michigan but traveling a lot.

08:25People know I'm from Michigan, so they'll say,

08:27Hey, man, your home state team, what is going on over there?

08:30Even people that are working for other teams will ask you for my take on it,

08:34which that's been kind of cool.

08:36It's been a fun experience to honestly have our state back

08:40in the national baseball conversation.

08:42It's been a while.

08:43So from that standpoint, I'm excited about that.

08:47I think that the second piece of it is that they're taken seriously.

08:54They are because we just saw last year's World Series was between the Diamondbacks

08:59and the Rangers, two wildcard teams.

09:01The Diamondbacks had to fight to the very end to be able to get into the postseason,

09:05and in my estimation, there's not a ton different

09:09between the Diamondbacks of last year and the Tigers of right now.

09:12There really isn't.

09:14Looking at the Diamondbacks' lineup last year,

09:17they had Corbin Carroll, you could say, as Riley Green,

09:20and Christian Walker maybe as Matt Vierling.

09:24There's a lot of commonality in terms of what those lineups were built like,

09:28and the Diamondbacks still found a way to beat the Phillies

09:32in a classic seven-game NLCS by winning six and seven on the road.

09:37I think that people I talk to say the Tigers are a great story.

09:41They remind me a little bit of the Diamondbacks last year.

09:44The clear implication being there that the Diamondbacks made it

09:47to the final game of the season.

09:49So now that you're in it, now that you're this far,

09:52there's no reason to feel like you don't belong.

09:55I think the Tigers do feel like they belong.

09:59The thing I love, too, about it, John, is the way they're playing.

10:02The homegrown nature of the team, the continuity there,

10:06they play a little bit like a college team that's having a lot of fun together.

10:10I think that's something that people in Michigan really should be proud of,

10:13that they do represent the city and each other and the game really well.

10:18However this all winds up, I think they've really put together

10:21a very nice run and played the game the right way.

10:24He's John Marossi, MLB Network.

10:26You can also see him with Yankees and Royals on TBS

10:29after the Tigers and Guardians.

10:31John, appreciate your time.

10:33Jim and John, my pleasure.

10:35Always enjoy the conversation and enjoy this great time in sports across Michigan.

10:39We absolutely are. Thank you. It's 97.1.

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